Electromagnetically operated paper tape coding punch with lubricating means



April 13, 1965 J. P. JONES, JR 3,173,106

ELECTROMAGNETICALLY OPERATED PAPER TAPE CODING PUNCH WITH LUBRICATINGMEANS Filed Feb. 18, 1963 v 2 Sneets-Sheet 1 FIGURE 1 INVENTOR JOHN PAULJONES, JR

BY M

ATTORNEY April 13, 1965 J. P. JONES, JR 3,178,106

ELECTRGMAGNETIGALLY OPERATED PAPER TAPE CODING PUNCH WITH LUBRICATINGMEANS Filed Feb. 18, was 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FGURE 2 FIGURE 5 INVENTOR JOHNPAUL JONES JR MQ-M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,178,106ELECTRGMAGNETICALLY OPERATED PAPER TAPE CODING PUNCH WITH LUBRICAT- IN'GMEANS John Paul Jones, In, Wynnewood, Pa, assiguor to NovagationComputer Corporation, Norristown, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaFiled Feb. 18, 1963, Ser. N 259,151 4 Claims. (Cl. 234-108) Thisinvention relates to paper tape punches and more specifically toelectromagnetically operated coding punches.

Many presently used punches are quite complex in construction andrequire precision parts. This adds further complications inaccessibility of parts, assembly costs and maintenance.

Amongst the deficiencies in operating conventional paper tape punchesare the requirements of complex adjustmcnt of linkages, the necessity toprovide spring operated retraction mechanisms which require considerableoperating power to overcome on the punching cycle, the disposition ofchad, and the need for frequent lubrication of the punch pins.

It is therefore a general object of the invention to pro duce animproved punch which corrects many deficiencies found in prior artpunches.

An auxiliary object of the invention is to provide a punch which isinexpensive to manufacture and which is easily maintained.

Another object of the invention is to provide a punch mechanism whichdoes not require adjustment of linkages.

In accordance with the invention therefore, a solenoid operated codingpunch is provided which requires no more than three moving parts foreach punch. Thus a solenoid drives a punch pin by way of an intermediatepivoted lever arm. A novel coupler between the lever arm and punch pinprovides both driving and retraction action to the punch pin, yetrequires no adjustment or springs and permits easy replacement of pinsif required. Other features include a self-lubricating action, simplechad removal and a minimum of simply manufactured parts.

Other objects and features of the invention will be evident from thedetailed description made hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view, partly in section of a punch assemblyconstructed in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a punch assembly as usedin coding paper tape, and

FIGURE 3 is an assembly view of a multiple pin punch constructed inaccordance with the invention.

As shown in FIGURE 1, a punch pin 6 is driven through a paper tape 7 anddie block 16 by action of the pivot arm 8 to produce the chad 9. Punchblock it holds the slidably mounted punch pin 6 in guide holes and hasan oil wick 11 extending therethrough transversely with the guide holes.The wick 11 envelopes a portion of the punch pins 6 for lubrication. Thepunch pin 6 has a flattened head 22 with a lower rim for receiving afinger grasp end of the pivot arm 8. The stroke of the punch pin 6provided by the pivot arm 8 about pivot pin 13 is long enough to carrylubrication from the wick 11 into the punch block pin bearing surfaces12 and 14. In this manner the retracted punch pin 11 will have itscutting edge 15 lubricated for each punch cycle by the residue of oil inbearing surface 14. This produces simply a continuous long termlubrication of the critical Wear surfaces.

A die block 16 has a vertical set of die holes extending partiallytherein for receiving the cutting edge of the punch pins 5. A chad chute17 is formed through the die block 16 transversely to the set of dieholes and com- 3,l'i,lilfi Patented Apr. 13, 1965 municating therewithto permit chad 9 to be dispensed by gravity action.

Note that construction of each part is simple. In the die block 16 forexample, as may be seen in perspective in FIGURE 2, a drilled holethrough the block for the chad chute 17, and drilled holes 19 for thepin die into the chad chute 17 are quite readily made without complexjigs or unusual manufacturing techniques. In the punch block similarlythe oil wick chute and the pin bearing holes may be drilled. The pivotarm 8 is a simple stamped part.

In the punching operation the action of the pivot arm 8 through actionof the upper 20 and lower 21 cam surfaces serves for both punch andretract operations by engaging pin 6 about the head 22. In the down orpunch stroke, the upper cam surface 20 engages the fiat upper headsurface in a roller camming action as it pushes it into the die block 16through the paper tape 7. During the retract operation, the lower camsurface 21 engages the under rim of the head 22 and forcibly removes thepin 6 from the paper tape 7 and die block 16. This action precludes theprovision of enough force to overcome a retract spring on the punchstroke and permits fast action with little power. The cam surfaces areshaped in a finger grasp configuration to produce a smooth transitionbetween the punch and retract operations and to avoid excessivelooseness or chatter between the two strokes. The cam operationbasically permits relative lateral movement between the pivot arm 8 andthe pin head 22 surfaces, rather than a modification of the drive actionproduced by the pivot arm moving about pivot pin 13. This significantlysimplifies the electromechanical linkage used to drive the punch pins 6.

One of the significant advantages of this drive assembly is that thealignment of the pin 6 in guide holes of punch block 10 and the die ofdie block 10 is not critical as the angle of the pivot arm changes. Thusvertical pin align ment is simplified. The pins may be readily replacedwhen worn as well as the punch and die blocks.

An overall assembly for eight hole codes is shown in FIGURE 3, whereinthe manner of spacing readily accommodates standard telegraphic typespecifications of eight holes across a one inch paper tape. Toaccomplish this tight spacing requirement, every other adjacent pin islonger and mounted at a different level as illustrated by the alternatepin 26 of FIGURE 1.

The pivot arm 8 is driven by an electromagnetic solenoid 29 about pivotpin 13. On each side of the pivot arm 8 on pin 13 is a nylon bearingwasher 30 which serves to hold the pivot arm 8 between the dividerplates 31 and 32 on each side thereof. The mechanical advantage betweenthe solenoid end of the pivot arm and the punch drive may be around fourto one, for example, so that a one inch solenoid stroke will produce aonequarter inch punch pin stroke.

As seen from adjacent lever arms 8 and 48, the spacing on two pivot pins13 and 53 permits the U-shaped divider 32 to hold the lever arms at thedifferent levels shown in FIGURE 1 to provide a compact assembly thatdoes not interfere with action of punching eight closely spaced holes ina one inch paper tape.

In operation, as seen from the perspective view of FIG URE 2, the chadchute 17 is mounted vertically to permit free gravity fall of chad, andto permit the oil wick 11 to rest in an oil well. Because of the fingergrasp end on the pivot arm 8, the simplified operation directly from thesolenoid is attained with few moving parts and without criticalrequirements in alignment, except between the punch and die blocks whichguide the punch pins.

It is therefore evident from the foregoing description that the presentinvention aifords a simplified yet efficient coding punch assemblyuseful in providing punched paper tape, which may be reproduced readily.This improved coding punch with its various features of novelty isdefined with particularity in the following claims.

I claim: w v

1. An electromagnetically operated paper tape coding punch assemblycomprising in combination, a solenoid, a lever arm coupled for motionabout a pivot point by said solenoid, a round punch pin having a flathead and a cutting edge on opposite'ends, a finger grasp end on saidlever arm having an upper cam surface for contacting the top of thepunch pin head and a lower cam surface for contacting the lower rim ofthe head to thereby provide both a punch and retract pin action as thesolenoid moves the lever arm back and forth, a punch block assemblyhaving guide holes for said punch pin to extend there through and havingan inner well with an oil wick therein to envelope a portion of saidpunch pin near said cutting edge to provide lubricant thereto each timeit reciprocates through a punch cycle, and a die block placed forreceiving the punch pin cutting edge and mountedto receive 2 punch pinguide holes, and an oil Wick resting in the well enveloping a portion ofthe punch pins near the cutting edge extending through the guide holes,and a die block 30 mounted adjacent to the punch block to receive thecutting the punch pin and cutting edge lubricant imported from saidwick.

3. A multiple punch assembly comprising a plurality of U-shaped dividerplates, a plurality of solenoids, a plurality of punch pins, lever armscoupling each of the solenoids to drive and retract a corresponding oneof the punch pins by camming action about two spaced pivot pins, andbearing washers mounted on each pivot pin on ,both sides of each leverarm, said divider plates mounted between adjacent sets of bearingwashers, wherein one set of two adjacent bearing washers is on one pivotpin and the other set is on the other pivot pin.

4. An assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein each two adjacent punchpins are mounted at different levels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 659,433 10/ 00Buckingham et al[ 234-106 1,298,280 3/19 Baynard 83169 2,543,435 2/51Buckley 234108 3,014,095 12/61, Kleinschmidt et al 2341 10 3,064,88211/62 Levin 234119 3,117,717 1/64 Druan et al. 234108 FOREIGN PATENTS1,016,911 9/52 France.

ANDREW R. IUHASZ Primary Examiner. I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Examiner.

2. PUNCH PIN LUBRICATING MEANS IN A PAPER PUNCH ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PUNCH BLOCK WITH PUNCH PIN GUIDE HOLES, PUNCH PINS HAVING A CUTTING EDGE EXTENDING THROUGH THE BLOCK, A WELL CUT IN SAID PUNCH BLOCK TRANSVERSE TO PUNCH PIN GUIDE HOLES, AND AN OIL WICK RESTING IN THE WELL ENVELOPING A PORTION OF THE PUNCH PINS NEAR THE CUTTING EDGE EXTENDING THROUGH THE GUIDE HOLES, AND A DIE BLOCK MOUNTED ADJACENT TO THE PUNCH BLOCK TO RECEIVE THE CUTTING EDGES IN RECIPROCATORY MOVEMENT THEREBY RECEIVING FROM 